Seeing With His Eyes Closed
by Johnny B. Marvel
Summary: A dream can tell a thousand words, a little boy with a powerful gift will not only test Paige's abilities as a charmed one but also her faith in magic.
1. Chapter 1

Seeing With His Eyes Closed

Paige sat next to the little boy who was proped up against a pillow in his hospital bed, it was nine o'clock in the night but unlike the other five year olds, Seth didn't sleep well.

"Hi there Seth, what are you doing up so late?"

"Can't sleep, it's too dark and I don't like the shadows."

"I know what you mean, when I was a kid I also couldn't sleep in the night."

"I bet your mom was there for you, she would make you feel better, or she'd show you how to make the shadows go away."

"Maybe, but I can do the same thing for you; when I was small I'd close my eyes think of all of the things that I would like to do and then I'd imagine I was doing them.I wanted to eat cake in the morning for breakfast, drive a car that could go under water, skate on the moon and turn my babysitter into a monkey. What about you Seth, what would you like to do?"

"I want to be Batman with all his cool stuff and the batmobile, I want to eat the biggest bowl of ice-cream in the world, I want to fly like a rocket and most of all I want to be able to walk." He smiled broadly at her and she smiled back, but on the inside her heart was aching from the one thing he wanted the most but he couldn't get; he wanted to walk.

"I also want to have different magical powers." He added matter of factly, Paige almost had to take a mental take back.

"You want different magic powers, do you have a magic trick you can show me Seth?" She asked quietly, just in case someone was listening or was watching them. He smiled sheepishly and held out his hands.

"It's not so great like the magic tricks you see on TV; and I don't show anyone my magic trick, only my daddy knows about it and he said I mustn't show anybody."

"Well you can trust me, I won't tell any body and I'll show you a magic trick if you show me yours."

"okay, close your eyes and give me your hands. You mustn't say anything or open your eyes, the trick won't work if you do, okay?"

"Okay Seth, I'll be very quiet and I promise I won't peek." She took his hands and closed her eyes, in a second the darkness was replaced by light. She was wearing a short white dress ending above her knees checkered with a red and pink flower print, her red hair was in a ponytail tied up with a red ribbon she touched it with a white lace gloved hand, she was wearing short red high heals standing on manicured green grass. She turned around and saw a cosy open caffe with other people slightly older than her, they weren't over dressed but something about them said money in big dollar signs, the ocassional boy or girl sitting next to their parents or grandparents eating slices of cake, muffins or sipping pink lemonade from crystal glasses. A large green yard streched out before her filled with childrern chasing each other, flying kites kicking balls from one to another, one boy probably five or six with dark brown hair wairing a school uniform ran up to her smiling.

"Do you like my dream!" He said happilly, even though she couldn't believe what she was seeing she smiled and nodded, Seth was standing without any assistance looking like anyone of the boys running around on the field.

"Come on, my friends and I are playing tag and none of the other parents want to play with us."

"If you don't Paige then I will, who's it!?" It was Richard wearing a grey suit and tie, he took off his shoes and socks.

"I'm it, and I'm the fastest, uncle Richard, now you're it!" Seth said and he touched Richard on the arm and ran like the wind, this scene was so perfect so picturesque and it felt real. She wasn't going to be the odd one out so she took off her shoes as well and ran to catch up with them, she found herself laughing and soon without a warning Richard caught her from behind and kissed her cheek. She turned around and smiled at him. There was a scream, then a shout for help from a little boy and it sounded like Seth, she turned around and saw a dark figure with a terrible snarl dressed in a black suit with a sleek and old fashioned haircut, he was chasing a dark haired boy and it was Seth, she ran to him with all she had and finally found Seth's hand she pulled him and then the light was extinguished. She opened her eyes and gasped for air, she was back in the hospital sitting next to Seth's bed, he was fast asleep spread out like an eagle on his back, but one tear fell down his cheek even though he was asleep. Seth wasn't just a human boy, he was a witch with something or someone who wanted him, whether it was a dream or a nightmare Paige knew that she wouldn't find it easy to sleep as well. After the thought had run its course she realised there was an unpleasant feeling in her hands. She opened them and looked, there was a small red stinging handprint on them that was slowly fading away.

"There are other posibilities, he could be somekind of faerl creature, or he could be a demon child for all we know."

"I'm telling you, he's not anything like that, he's just a little boy that happens to be a witch. He said he never showed anyone because his father told him to keep it a secret, just like we keep our powers a secret and the last time I checked, Prue also had to save a kid who was a witch and two guys were after him. We know that there is always a magical reason why I get all of my jobs, I think he's my innocent."

"That's what you thought about that guy who sold his soul to a demon, for all we know the dad probably made one and didn't keep his end of the deal. You don't follow the rules and someone you love suffers the consequnces, his wife died and now a demon is chasing the son."

"All the more reason to save Seth, if his father got mixed up with the wrong demons, why should the kid suffer the consequences. Why are you so deadset on not saving a little boy."

"Since the last time this kind of situation arised, you sold your soul for someone you bearly knew and we were so close to losing you and I don't want to lose another sister." Piper said with more anger than she intended, there was a moment of silence as the tention began to settle which Phoebe took advantage of.

"Let's just look at it this way, there's a boy who's in danger and there might be someone who knows why, if that's the case one or two of us needs to find that person and it's most likely the father. He will know more about what's going on. Paige, you find out whatever you can about the father and give it to me, I'll try to scry for him. Piper , you are the best at making potions, you can make the truth potion and the two us will go and visit him. Paige try and get some information from Seth as he already trusts you; I'll be able to get a read on the father and if it seems as if we're going nowhere we'll use the truth potion. Is that okay with anyone, because I can work my day around it, Paige if you are going to find some information around the father you're going to have work fast; and Piper I know you have the day off, we have the nany and everything is undercontrol at the club.

"Something could happen, there might be a power failure and all the lights, blenders, the amps and the credit card…"

"No excuses, if Seth is Paige's innocent then we owe it our assistance to her, you're not the only one who has a job you know."

"Do you recognise anyone of them?" Phoebe asked Paige while Piper was downstairs making the potion, Wiat had taken to orbing around the house and having to repremand him constantly wasn't going to improve Piper's temper.

"I don't recognise anything from the Book, maybe he's something that's more recent…"

"Or maybe he isn't a demon maybe he's a warlock or another witch who's possessed by a demon. It's possible that the demon could be working through the witch, using his powers to enter the Seth's mind while he's asleep."

"Astral projection, he could still be inside the witches mind and use his powers to astral project into Seth's mind. But he'd have to know a witch that could astral project and the person who can astral project is either near Seth or also in the hospital."

"Now I have to find the father's records and all of the patients in the hospital, that could take forever and we don't know how long it's going to take to save Seth from whatever it is that is after him."

"It could be happening now as we speak, we could be too late. It's already half past eight and don't the small kids in hospital have to be asleep before eight o'clock?"

"No he's okay for now, he finds it difficult to sleep; and I was in the dream with him for at least two hours before he fell asleep and that was something to one in the morning."

"I want to know what happened in the dream, because maybe it was more than a dream maybe there was something you missed a certain detail. Try to think back, not while you were wake, but when you were asleep."

"It was the afternoon, I was at a kind of park maybe a botanical garden. I was standing infront of a field filled with children playing and doing all kinds of things; behind me was an outside tea house full of rich people, I was wearing a shortwhite dress with flowers on them and white lace gloves, my hair was tied with a ribbon and I was wearing short red high heels. Then Seth came running towards me, he wasn't in a wheel chair he was running and then he asked me to run with him and then Richard ran after him while they were playing tag, Seth called him uncle Richard and then I ran after them and played as well. Richard kissed me and that's when the black thing appeared chasing Seth, I ran towards him to save him before that monster in a black suit caught him, the minute I grabbed his hand the dream ended." Paige's head began to spin from exhaustion as if everything had happened again. Phoebe watched her in silence and finally asked a question, one that Paige had failed to adress.

"Did Richard visit you while you were with Seth?" Phoebe asked and then she felt Paige's shock and confusion from the realisation that there was one thing that she hadn't noticed until Phoebe had brought it up.

"No, he didn't I never introduced Richard to Seth, I didn't even mention him. I only pay attention to what is happening while I'm working in a specific place."

"If Richard didn't visit you while you were at the hospital; and you didn't even talk about him, or mention his name, how did Seth know about him. Did Seth even see him?"

"No, besides wearing a suit, the Richard in the dream looked exactly like the real Richard, from top to bottom, how could Seth do that?"

"Maybe Seth doesn't only share dreams with others, but he can also bring in some of their thoughts and memories into the dreams. What if Seth shared a dream with someone he wasn't supposed to and then some of their thoughts or memories was added into Seth's dream. Seth probably knows something that someone else doesn't want to share."

"But there was nothing out of the ordinary, the only thing that was different was the time, everything seemed out-dated, there wasn't a cellphone insight or any type of electronics." There was the sound of something crashing into the father clock, then there was a sound of an explosion.

"How many times are we going to have that clock fixed?" Phoebe said with frustration


	2. Piper's Nightmare

They were barely a few steps below when an energy ball flew towards them, Phoebe ducked and Paige orbed behind the demon that had thrown the energy ball and kicked him in the back directly at Piper who blew him up. Phoebe got back on her feet and went down the stairs kicking a demon in the head that had pretended to be unconscious, he collapsed on the energy ball that he conjured and blew up.

"They spend so much time here we might as well make a spare room for them."

"Or make them pay for all the furniture and windows they break, they didn't even tell me what they came for. And if anymore of them come back while I'm in the kitchen, so help me I'll blow up each and every one of their limbs off."

"We couldn't find the demon that was after Seth, but we think that a demon has possessed another witch who can astral project and is working through them."

"And that helps us how, we don't know who we are up against, if you're right we will have to find a witch who has the ability to astral project and we don't know how long that's going to take, then we make the revelation potion to get the demon out of the witch and that's if there even is a demon possessing the witch?"

"Then we'll just use magic, we have powers, let's use them."

"Then we'll use a spell, but what kind of spell do we cast for this kind of situation?"

"I call upon the ancient powers, now and in future hours. Reveal the truth of what we require, summon the truth that we three desire." Phoebe lit the corner of the page and threw it into the cauldron, the foaming potion bubbling away turned into small explosion of sparks and white smoke. The attic seemed to stretch and then reverted to normal; the phone rang and Piper checked her watch.

"That's probably Dominique, I was supposed to go the club for admin, but it's getting late and if we want to save Seth we have to start…Wyatt, what did mommy say, no orbing out of bed!" Wyatt was sitting in his second playpen that they put in the attic in case of a crisis. Piper walked towards him, but just as she reached for Wyatt he orbed and a few seconds later they could hear the sound of someone orbing downstairs, then there was the sound of a vase falling over and breaking

"Wyatt, mommy doesn't have time for games okay, its bed time for little boys." She called to him and when she heard no responding orb she went downstairs to check on him, the door shut behind her with a resounding slam, just as she reached the bottom she saw Wyatt sitting at the phone when she walked towards him he orbed away and the phone rang.

"They don't come subtler than that, this is Piper Hawlliwell speaking." There was a sound of white noise and then it was a replaced by the voice of a young boy.

"Where's Paige, I want to talk to Paige!" Then there was white noise again, Piper looked at the phone and tried to answer.

"Who is this and what do you want!?"

"Where's Paige, I want Paige; I'm scared and I want her here. The shadows are going to come for me…I want Paige!" The voice filled the room and made it shake; now Piper had a good idea who it was.

"Seth is that you, I'm Paige's big sister so you can tell me what's wrong, I can also help you."

"Are you are you the one who blows things up?"

"How do you know that, Seth, Seth can you hear me? Phoebe, Paige come down here it's Seth?" But no one answered, she called again but no one came.

"Come quickly Piper and bring Paige, the shadows are coming for me I can feel them trying to make me sleep!" Wyatt orbed back and even though Piper wanted to pick him up she felt herself walk backwards quickly as if she was moving in rewind, up the stairs and then she heard the sound of someone orbing in the attic, the door flew open and just as her foot stepped into the room she tripped. Piper groaned and sat up, she was on the floor a few feet away from Wyatt's playpen, Paige and Phoebe ran to her and helped her up.

"Are you okay, what happened!?" Phoebe asked steadying Piper because she was still a little unsteady; Piper put her hand on her forehead.

"You're feeling worn out and confused, like you've just experienced something you don't understand. At least you don't feel or look you're in pain." Phoebe said wrapping her arms around Piper for support.

"You ask me what happened, I'll ask you what happened, I was just on the phone with Seth and he has some pipes! He literally shook the room; and where were you guys!" She said swatting Phoebe, now Paige and Phoebe looked even more confused.

"You didn't go downstairs Piper and you didn't call us, you were walking towards Wyatt and then you just fell, for no reason and you wouldn't get up, we tried to wake you but nothing worked so we tried a spell, nothing happened you just wouldn't wake up. We even tried making a potion, because you were out cold for nearly an hour.

"An hour, but I was gone for only a few minutes, I went downstairs to fetch Wyatt and then the phone rang. When I answered the phone I was talking to Seth and he told me he was in trouble…We need to go now, now, now!" Paige held them and orbed them to the hospital bathroom.

"What's going on, why are we here?" Paige asked Piper, turned towards them and told them what Seth said.

"Do you think he sent us a psychic S.O.S?" Phoebe asked, Paige opened the door slightly and peeked outside.

"There isn't a lot of time to figure that out now, just follow me, I have access to most of the rooms here so they'll recognise me if anyone asks you'll just say you are from the temp agency and you came to see if I'm adapting to the job, got it." When they nodded they opened the door and Paige led them to the children's ward and just as they were about to enter the room, the lights went out and Paige gave a small gasp as she felt something pass through the air, it felt faint to the touch yet it made their bodies feel heavy and sluggish, their muscles tensed up and the rest and then pins and needles seemed to rise and dip on their chests, they fell to their knees as they heard crying and muffled screaming from the patients. With all she had in her, she orbed bringing Phoebe and Piper with her the minute they were in the room Phoebe collapsed under the pain of everyone in the room.

"Piper freeze them, I feel like I'm going to be crushed!" Phoebe screamed, Piper raised her hands and instead of freezing the room she blew up a monitor, the fire alarm picked up the smoke and the sprinklers filled the room with water, the painful and sickly feeling that filled the room vanished and a man appeared out of nowhere and fell from the roof. Paige turned around and saw a broad and bulky man dressed in a black suit with a pale skin and a face that made her think of a hawk, his eyes were completely white and his black hair was sleek and cut in that old fashioned way that Paige had seen in Seth's dream. Piper reacted instantly and tried to blow him up, he snarled and the second time she tried it she left a gaping hole in his suit and chest which was restored instantly, but he still clutched to the area of pain and shimmered away. Everyone was unconscious while their bodies tried to recover from the attack, alarms were going off and Piper was poised to blow up the man who fell from the roof, but Phoebe held down her hands while Paige checked if Seth was okay.

"No, we should take him with us to the manor so we can interrogate him; he's involved in all this I can feel it coming from him." Paige picked up Seth and Phoebe took a small wooden mannequin from her pocket and placed it in Seth's bed, she took out a piece of paper and unfolded it, gesturing Paige to come and stand next to her as she extended her hands so they could read the spell and make space for Seth.

"Hurry, hurry we need to cast the spell and get out of here before anyone sees us."

"Within these walls this mannequin, shall take Seth's form in flesh and skin, give it senses give it mind, give it life though we leave it behind." The little wooden doll grew and transformed into an exact duplicate of Seth. It was fast asleep and hopefully it would convince everyone else that it was the real Seth, the plan was to swap Seth with an enchanted wooden doll so that they could take him to the manor and keep him protected until they found the demon or whatever that was after him and vanquish it. Leo heals him and they return him to the hospital, the mannequin will only revert to its true form if all three of them are in that room so Paige could move around freely. Seth would appear to be miraculously healed and his father could take him home.

"If this guy tries anything, I will use him as target practice." Piper said grabbing him by the back of his neck, she and Phoebe put their hands on Paige's shoulders and they orbed out of the hospital


	3. Dream Weaver

"Where is he?"

"We couldn't retrieve him, he is unfortunately under the protection of the Charmed Ones; and Aikido is with them as well."

"I give you one simple order and you can't even get that right, it took only three witches to defeat one of my best demons and my second in command! Three witches took my son and you're telling me that you couldn't have done anything!" The beautiful yet furious brunette shouted, slapping the ugly and disproportionate beastie man with every sentence, each slap rang like church bells, he fell to his knees quivering, shaken with fear as she towered above him. She walked away clenching her fists as she fought the urge to hit him again. She turned to what looked like a shallow pond filled with a silvery fluid that was completely still, in front of it was a granite basin carved from a tall rock in the ground. It was filled with ground up herbs; she took a pinch and threw it into the silver pond and it lit up in an explosion of fire.

"By the powers of wind and tide, I send these words both far and wide. Be he far or be he near, let me see him bright and clear." The fire was blown away and the silver substance was steaming as it turned into a picture. A reflection of Seth standing up for the first time in Paige's room; the image rose into the fumes pouring from the surface of the pond and they took Seth's form, the texture of his skin and the clothes, every single colour until it actually looked like Seth was standing right in front of her.

"What is this magic that keeps us apart?" She whispered to herself.

"Who are you and what do you want with Seth." Paige asked standing in front of the man bound to a chair in the attic. He sniffed and looked away from her as if he didn't care what she asked him. She decided to loosen his tongue by tipping the potion vial allowing a few drops of the blue vanquishing potion to fall on his lap; the sound of hissing and thin streams of smoke coming from the flesh on his leg made his face red and his eyes began to tear up as a small screech of pain escaped his lips.

"Now what's it to be, your name or a few more drops until we burn all the way through your leg?" When he hesitated she tipped the vial again, a few more drops fell on the same place they had burned before, more hissing and smoke came from his thigh, he tried his best to bite down on the pain.

"One last time, tell me who you are or I will to drizzle this all over your crotch."

"There are worst things than that, if you knew her and what she could do. Death would be the only option."

"Who is she, who are you and what the hell are we dealing with here" Piper intervened; he dreaded the fact that he had actually brought_ her_ up.

"We're not getting anywhere with this guy and he obviously wants to die so I think we should just go with plan B and let me use him as target practise." He looked between the two of them and shook his head quickly.

"Okay I'll talk, just keep that one away from me." He indicated to Piper by jerking his head in her direction, she smiled and walked away from him.

"So what's your name, who are you working for and what do you want with Seth?" Paige asked again, he briefly glanced at Piper and told them everything he knew.

"I'm Aikido and I work for the queen sorceress, Circe; and the boy you have is her son, that's why I was sent to the hospital, I was supposed to retrieve the dream weaver."

"Seth is a dream weaver, what is a dream weaver?" Paige turned to Phoebe who was paging through the Book of Shadows for the demon Aikido; Piper spoke up while Phoebe tried to find Circe and dream weaver as well.

"If you're a demon why didn't you shimmer him out of there, I think you're not telling us everything, are you Aikido? Where is Circe and fare warning, I'm in no mood for talking in circles, I have a kid orbing everywhere in the manor and I'm looking for a positive outlet for my frustration."

"She said I wasn't strong enough to retrieve the boy by myself so she sent her own creation with me, I was only a distraction. I didn't have a choice she is very powerful; there isn't a mortal or demon who can defeat her and no one would even consider challenging her. She knows things that you cannot even imagine and she knows how to make death better than living under her control."

"We have both of them here, Circe and Aikido" Phoebe said tracing the pages with her finger, '_Aikido, a demon that spreads airborne pain and plagues wherever it goes, it travels across the air unseen unless it is touched by moving water'; _and he comes with a vanquishing spell no power of three needed. Circe is a different story_; the legendary Circe was the most powerful sorceress of her time and remains a formidable foe. She has the ability to manipulate the sea and wind, the one thing that she truly finds comfort in is her power to turn mortals into animals and statues. _The ability to turn a man into a pig actually sounds okay to me. " When Piper gave her a questioning look, Phoebe slightly shook her head as a silent not-now hint.

"Wait, you promised you wouldn't hurt me, you said if I told you the truth you wouldn't blow me up."

"Yes, Paige and I did, but Phoebe didn't and she's an empath, do you know what that means? It means that little stunt you pulled at the hospital was hurting everyone in the ward and she had to feel all of their pain, an eye for an eye. If it makes you feel any better it doesn't take a lot of time, but I won't lie and say that it doesn't look painful; Phoebe he's all yours."

"_Noxious demon traveling the skies, remaining unseen to human eyes, the ails and diseases that you spread, consumes you now and thus you are dead_" He began to sweat and his skin was steaming faster and faster like a teapot and he was turning a violent shade of pink. He shouted and jerked back and forth on the chair and then he exploded in a fury of fire. There was someone screaming on the other side of the door, the sound of someone running up and down the corridor and then the stairs put them on edge. Paige opened the door slowly while Piper raised her hands, a small boy ran in the room so fast that he nearly pushed Paige backwards; out of surprise Piper almost blew him up and would have succeeded if Phoebe didn't push her hands aside, bye-bye mannequin. Seth jumped up and down shouting nearly incoherently, between the unintelligible noises you could hear little phrases of joy. The room seemed to fill with a pleasantly refreshing feeling, a comforting release from some unseen burden that they were unaware of; the frustration and anger among the sisters had lifted and they felt as happy as Seth was.

"Walking, I can walk, I can't believe it, I'm really walking, I can run, and I can jump." Something to that effect; Leo healed Seth's legs while the little boy was a sleep and it goes without saying that he finally got what he had wanted for such a long time. Leo orbed into the attic just at that time and Seth launched himself onto Leo giving him a huge hug.

"You did it uncle Leo I saw you, I saw your hands glowing over my legs and then I was running in a relay race afterwards and I won, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Before Leo could say a thing, Seth ran out again and down the stairs making Paige and Leo smile from ear to ear.

"I was with the other Elders and at first they thought he was a witch but ruled that out after we had a reading of his powers; their massive and old. The magic he is using so far isn't even scratching the surface of what his magic can really do; we believe that Seth is a Dream Weaver."

"We just vanquished a demon that said the same thing, but he didn't elaborate on it. We were more focused on Seth as our innocent. An evil sorceress is after him and she's been trying to catch him by any means possible.

"So the original bad guy isn't who we should be focussing on, he's only working for the sorceress, Circe. But I don't see why she's resorting to guns for hire if Seth is really her son; I mean why doesn't she go and fetch him herself."

"Circe is a powerful Greek sorceress who wanted to have the powers of the Greek gods, but she was denied the right because of her greed, vanity and what she would've done with that kind of power. So she pledged war against the Elders and all of their allies, the Dream Weavers were the one of the most powerful magical beings that Circe was not capable of defeating and they drove Circe back into exile. The Dream Weavers were a small covenant and it is believed that the gift of the Dream Weavers had died out from years of cross marriage. It would only make sense if Circe had kidnapped Seth a long time ago and raised him as her own; using him as a willing hostage and a channel for unlimited magic."

"What if Circe is his real mother, conceiving him with a Dream Weaver making sure that he will be as powerful as a Dream Weaver but be as evil as her; he would inherit and continue her evil legacy. Returning the Dream Weaver race and this time they will fight against the Elders.

"With many other allies, Whitelighters would fall or even be killed, upsetting the balance between good and evil."

"So we'll vanquish Circe and take Seth back to the hospital. The doctors will think it's a miracle; Paige casts a spell that will keep the doctors from dissecting Seth to find out how he was healed. He is discharged and his father takes him home." Piper said, but Leo looked hesitant.

"It's not going to be that easy, Circe is powerful and a great strategist. She wouldn't think twice to kill anyone who gets in her way, because she does not distinguish the difference between good and evil. I she wants Seth she'll either kill you or kill the people around you just to weaken your defences."

"We can handle it, we have the Power of Three and it hasn't failed us in the past. Now that we know who she is and what she can do, we'll just have to figure out a way to vanquish her." Paige said confidently, Phoebe was reading the information of Circe and looked up again.

"There is no vanquishing potion or spell and it says here that she has never been defeated. How do we vanquish something that cannot be vanquished?"

"She never had to face the Charmed Ones and that's why there's no potion or spell to vanquish her; she's been around before ancient times, that's long before Melinda Warren was born."

"What about Seth, what do we tell him and what do we do."

"We don't give him all the details and one of us has to keep a constant eye on him." Phoebe said and Paige spoke up.

"I have the most fire power so I'll do it; I can keep an eye on him and Wyatt at the same time I can just tell Dominic that there's a family emergency I have to take care of." Piper offered.

"The benefits of being your own boss." Phoebe said with a smile, Piper swatted the comment aside.

"And with it come the boss's responsibilities, the Power of Three and the daily struggle of being the mother to boy who can create dragons in his spare time; and drives mommy mad when she tries to keep him from exposing our secret."

"I'll just say hi to Wyatt and then I'll have to go." Leo said orbing to Wyatt's room and then there was a smash that sounded like glass or porcelain, hopefully it wasn't another vase. When they went downstairs there was no one there and nothing seemed to be damaged so it wasn't Wyatt, it was then that they realised that there was another boy in the house and it was still early in the morning. They had forgotten to make breakfast and Seth was loose in the house, then there was the sound of something else being blown up, it was a small explosion like it came from something small. When they walked into the kitchen, they saw Seth with a cookie in his mouth trying to pick up the rest of them and the pieces of the cookie jar; the doors of the kitchen cupboard above the microwave were blown to pieces leaving nothing but broken hinges, glass cups and splinters, they put the cookie jar in that cupboard so that Wyatt wouldn't see it and either Seth had found it or a demon toddler with a sweet tooth was in the manor. There was also a plastic cup of milk on the table and when Seth had cleaned his mess, he put the cookies on the table and drank from the milk.

"Seth, what happened in here, did you do this?" Phoebe asked the small boy, he bent his head low and gave her a puppy dog look which was almost too adorable; but that cupboard was still broken to pieces.

"I was hungry and I saw the cookie jar, I tried to get it but it was too high for me to reach. So I got a little mad; and when I tried to jump and grab the cupboard door it just went boom!" There was a moment of silence and Piper asked him a question which resulted in an unexpected bombshell.

"Can you do that again Seth; can you show us how you blew up that cupboard door?" Seth nodded and walked towards the cupboard again and Piper quickly steered him away.

"How about we try that with a cookie instead, I'm going to throw a cookie in the air and make it freeze, and then you can do to the cookie what you did to the cupboard." When Seth nodded again, she took a cookie and threw it up and just as it fell down she froze it in the air, Seth did the same thing he had done before but instead of the blowing up the cookie, it fell to the floor as if Piper had unfrozen time. Something huge and beast like shimmered out of nowhere and grabbed Seth for a fleeting second he saw Piper aiming for his head, he turned around in time to throw her across the kitchen and when he tried to hit the others Phoebe ducked and Paige orbed out of his way. Seth escaped the clutches of the man by orbing out of his arms; he gripped his hands closed and then he opened them and the beastie man froze in place, their faces were inches away from each other. Paige walked to Seth to check if he was okay, Phoebe got back on her feet and briefly looked at the huge and monstrous man while she stepped around him and Piper walked back into the kitchen blowing a few stray hairs out of her face.

"Leo!"


	4. Chapter 4

"What this is, he…whatever, how did it shimmer inside the manor while we covered this place with crystals and cloaked Seth!" Piper asked pointing at the huge beastie man, Leo didn't have an answer for her and continued to analyse the beastie man.

"He is mostly likely drawn to Seth's powers or other magic he was involved with. Did you see him use any of your powers, or the other sisters?"

"He blew up a small cupboard door and froze the man thing that's taking up most of my kitchen. Which by the way is an eyesore and difficult to explain to people who might visit."

"Who's visiting, I thought you were trying to stop Wyatt from exposing your secret."

"Besides that I have a lot on my plate and I don't need this thing in my way; and what if he unfreezes at random and tries to catch Seth again and break the furniture. Remember the lizard demon that raided the house, I had to clean up the mess he left behind when he trashed the sun room and I just had to upholster every piece of furniture in the living room after we vanquished him, the left over smoke clung to everything and stank like a rotten baked eggplant. And Seth froze the guy hence the problem."

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked, Piper looked at him with mixed exasperation and irritation.

"Seth's the one who froze this thing, not me. Keep up will you," She said indicating to the beastie man; "how did he do that, Paige said he orbed. Is Seth half whitelighter?"

"No, it's one of the Dream Weavers many gifts; they can replicate and permanently absorb any form of magic they are exposed to. Have you used your powers around him?"

"We were practicing magic in the kitchen that's when the thing appeared, at first we thought he would blow a cookie up, but instead he showed us that he could freeze and unfreeze time like me…"

"Wait, why did you think he had your aggressive power; did you vanquish a demon in front of him? Children shouldn't see that form of violence, it could disturb them…"

"I didn't blow anyone up, it was a small accident?"

"Were you trying to swat a fly and blew it up by accident?"

"Not exactly, like I said it was an accident, I didn't expect him I thought he was a demon about to burst into the room and the door was closed so I didn't see him."

"Did you try to blow him up?" Before Piper could answer, Seth orbed into the room with his broad smile and they had forgotten what they were talking about.

"Tada, the amazing Seth Houdini has done it again! I could only do it a little bit, but now I can do it whenever I want." Piper had recovered and looked at him more carefully, his clothes were shrinking, or he was getting bigger, Leo saw it as well and he gave Piper a knowing look.

"Is he down there, I swear I took my eyes off of him for less than a second and he orbed out of the room Paige said rushing down the stairs, Seth closed his eyes tight and orbed out of the kitchen.

"You just missed him," Piper said trying to supress a smile, "Another Wyatt except this one knows what he's doing."

"Careful what you say, you offered to look after him. I've got to go to the hospital to find his personal and medical details and see if the toy Seth is still doing its job. Oh; and Phoebe told me to tell you that she'll come to check up if you need any help before she leaves work".

"Why, where is she going?"

"She's going to help me get a feel of the hospital's staff; maybe we'll find someone who knows more about Seth.

"I should fill in the details with the Elders." Leo said apologetically, she turned her face away and smiled bitterly.

"Of course you do, I'll be fine with the boys." She told him, he stepped forward to give her a hug but Wyatt cried at that exact moment, Piper stepped back."

"Wyatt needs me now, you go and tell the Elders but what happened," when Leo hesitated she looked away from him.

"You have your responsibilities I have mine.

Circe threw a boulder across the room where it crash against the cave wall breaking into huge pieces sending dust flying in every direction.

"Idiots, fools, I'm surrounded by the incompetent! Miguel, this is the end for you and I will make you the example of my power and the wrath that fuels your demise!" Circe went back to her silver pond and took a pinch of herbs from the stone basin and threw it into the glimmering silver waters.

"Across the earth, the wind and tide, I cast these words both far and wide. Take my minion, Miguel the beast, undo his life to join the deceased!"

The beastie man had unfrozen and fell to the ground and didn't get up, but Piper prepared herself just in case he did. His skin began to radiate a red gold light that grew brighter and brighter and in seconds it ended in sparks, he was no longer a beast, but a human man. Motionless and soundless, Leo and Piper went up to him and turned him over; there he was as a handsome foreign young man; tan skin, full lips, slightly broad nose and a strong jawline framed with long and thick black hair. The most unlikely part of him was his brown eyes that were fading into a milky white. Piper put her two fingers on his neck and felt no pulse, he had stopped breathing, and he was dead. She closed his eyes and looked at Leo, he was still and focused.

"He's not the threat he's an innocent."

"For those who want the truth revealed, open their hearts and secrets unsealed. From now until it's now again from now which the memory ends, this spell is not of selfish gain, only to save those who face evils bane." Paige looked at her watch, it was twelve pm mid-afternoon.

"Okay we have a day to find everything we need, do you have your journalism card."

"I have it, so you found a way around the law of three rule; I am impressed." Phoebe said holding up her card for Paige to see.

"I have a way with words; I thought you were going to the manor to see if everything's okay."

"I thought I'd go a later, I thought you would need me more, we can make more progress if we work together as soon as possible. Maybe we'll make some…" Phoebe bumped into someone tall and firm and they both stepped back.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going, and I was checking my pages and…" Their eyes met and Phoebe felt the rest of the world slip away, he was dazzlingly handsome. They were lost in each other's eyes.

"Phoebe, Phoebe!" Paige's voice broke the moment and Phoebe came back to earth and she smiled at the handsome stranger.

"This is Doctor Collin Ardeas from the disability unit, he specializes with minors, Doctor Collin this is my sister Phoebe Halliwell."

"Pleased to meet you Miss Halliwell." He said holding out his hand, Phoebe took it to shake his hand and gasped. She saw herself kissing him passionately; and then the premonition ended.

"Likewise, I'm doing a story on the hopes and outlooks of disabled people and children… Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" But by the cool air, there was obviously an air-conditioner.

"You look like you have a fever let me just check, if you don't mind?" She shook her head, he put the back of his hand on her forehead, then her cheeks and she didn't want him to lift his hand. He pulled away and smiled at her, she smiled back hoping that she wasn't blushing.

"So doctor, would it be okay with the interviews?" Paige asked, trying to direct the other two's attention to the plan.

"I won't mind, we'll just have to ask the patients if they don't mind as well." He said with a broad smile on his face, Phoebe couldn't help but smile as well.

"You guys go ahead I have some paperwork that I need to finish, I'll catch up with you. Maybe Phoebe can get the feel of the hospital and the patients." This was code for Phoebe to use her empathy.

"Okay, if you'd follow me Miss Halliwell."

"Please, call me Phoebe."

"That's one problem solved, but what to do about the eldest sister and her husband?" She threw the herbs into the silver pond and the pond lit up in an explosion of fire.

"By the power of wind and tide, I send these words both far and wide. Be he far, or be he near let me see him bright and clear." The fire turned into pure white smoke that billowed across the pond, Seth appeared in the reflection of the silver waters, he was playing with many puzzles and jigsaws each one more complicated than the one before it. The white smoke gathered as the silvery waters poured Seth's reflection into it and the smoke took Seth's form; she tried to stroke his cheek, but the smoke parted and when she pulled back the smoke returned to Seth's form.

"He might be protected from me, but he isn't protected by her." She waved her hand and the smoke turned into Piper who was in the kitchen making lunch for the boys.

"By the powers of wind and tide, I send these words both far and wide. Change me into the form of another the one who is Piper Halliwell's lover." A red gold light engulfed her and in less than a minute the light faded. She raised her hand slowly and the smoke faded away while the silver water began to move, rise and dip until it finally shot up straight and turned into a huge mirror. She stepped forward and looked at her new reflection.

"What is your name and what are you to the sisters?"

"My name is Greg Vaughn and I am Piper Halliwell's boyfriend."

Piper didn't know what to make for Seth besides chocolate chip cookies, so she decided to make as much as she could. The dining room table was decked with all types of food and she hoped that Seth would like something. Truth be told, she was looking for something to do in the kitchen other than brewing potions and Seth was that opportunity.

"Seth, Lunch is ready!" Piper called upstairs and Seth Orbed downstairs next to her, she had gotten used to it by now and bent down at eye level and spoke to him.

"Seth, no orbing in the house, I made lunch so go ahead in the dining room." He nodded and ran off, the doorbell rang and she walked towards the door to open it and Seth orbed next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Don't open the door, a bad person is there and you don't want him here."

"Who's he Seth?" The doorbell rang again so she walked into the living room and looked out the front window and saw Greg.

"It's okay Seth, that Greg, he's my boyfriend." Seth let go reluctantly and she went back to the front door and opened it, there he was with his cute smile and bright eyes, a fire man wasn't an angel but he was close enough.

"Hi Piper, you miss me?" Greg said smiling and she smiled back; the problem was she couldn't let him smile inside with a wrecked kitchen and a parlour that was still a mess after the vanquishing yesterday.

"I'm good and yourself?"

"No complaints, who's this little tyke" Greg said bending over and smiling at Seth, Seth stoke his tongue out and ran into the house.

"That was Seth; he's…my next door neighbour's nephew."

"Oh, but isn't that them driving past your house?" He pointed towards the car driving past them at a snail's pace.

"They are going somewhere…but they didn't want to leave him at the house by himself so I offered to keep him here."

"That's good of you, but why should I be surprised." She smiled and leaned in for a kiss but he pulled away.

"So I guess I'll just leave…"

"No wait, I'll be with you just now, just stay there and don't move." He smiled and leaned against the wall outside. She quickly turned around and called to Seth.

"Seth I don't know if you can do this, but do you think you could orb the mess away, it would really help me out." He nodded and turned towards the rest of the house and all he did was click his fingers and a wave of unseen energy rippled across the room. Everything it touched reverted to the way it was before the attack it travelled everywhere and everything seemed as if it were completely brand new.

"Did you know you could do this all the time?"

"Only in my dreams, I could make things look the way I wanted, but now that I'm here my magic has become better, bigger."

"We can talk about it later, but just for now we should keep it our secret, in the mean time I would like it if you tried to give Greg a chance, he's a really good guy and I know you'll like him if you get to know him, can you try to do this for me?" She asked, he nodded again and she held out her hand, he took it and they walked back to the door. When she opened the door Greg was still standing there waiting patiently; his face lit up at the sight of her and a Seth.

"May I come in?" He asked her, she opened the door wide for him and he stepped into the house. The floor seemed to creek with every footstep until the noise ended; as if he had lost a ton in weight.

"I made something for you, well I cooked it." He said holding up a picnic basket in his hand that Piper swore she hadn't seen a minute ago. She looked slightly surprised at the offering of food he brought for her.

"So you're a fireman and a cook, a man of all trades?" She said taking the basket from him and walking into the kitchen.

"What can I say, I have my moments; and many guys can cook just not as well as I can."

"I'll hold you to it, okay so what do we have here." She said putting the basket on the kitchen table and opening it, he rushed towards her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Let me, I made my speciality; cream cheese, honey and raspberry pot pie." He said proudly, opening up the plastic Tupperware. A rich and creamy scent laced with the sweet taste of honey and the raspberry filled the room, Piper took three plates and spoons from the cupboard and put it on the table to dish the cream cheese pie but Greg shook his head.

"I made it for you and I have more at home, but I'm sure Seth will enjoy it." Greg smiled at Seth and held out his hand, but he was stung just by touching the boy. Piper didn't notice and once she gave Seth his plate she stood there with her spoon poised over the slice of pie.

"Wait let me, it will taste better if it comes from me. How about at the count of three both of you take a bite" She smiled and handed him the spoon and he gave her a generous scoop of the pie. He counted to three and at the exact same time both Seth and Piper had eaten a piece of the pie. It was only in a matter of seconds that they fell to the ground unconscious. Piper slowly transformed into Circe and Seth remained the same. Circe took her true form and bent low over Piper; she put her hand on Piper's cheek and every single one of Piper's memories were replicated and absorbed into Circe's mind all she had to do was change herself into the "real Piper". Circe took out a white candle, an atheme and a small pouch out of a compartment in the picnic basket, and then she took one of the bowls in the kitchen cupboard and Piper's grocery list on the fridge. She cut the tip of Piper/Circe's index finger with the atheme and let a few drops of blood fall onto the list and then she did the same with her finger. She cut three strands of Piper/Circe's hair and put it in the bowl, sprinkling herbs she had taken from her pouch. She pulled a quill and parchment from thin air and quickly wrote the spell she had in mind before she forgot it; and then she lit up the candle by snapping her fingers. She held up the blood stained grocery list and read the spell out loud.

"Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies. Where there was one let there be two, you are me and I am you." She lit the blood stained page with the flame from the candle and dropped it in to the bowl, the contents of the bowl and page blew up into white smoke that split in two opposite directions, Circe and the transformed Piper. The smoke forced its way into their mouths and nostrils and the more it filled Circe the faster she transformed into the real Piper. She stood up and looked at her arms and legs, then she felt her face and chest which she was very satisfied with; to test whether the transformation was complete she walked back into the kitchen and aimed for the container with her enchanted pie, with nothing but two hand gestures the bowl blew up which meant the first step of her new plan was working. She took out a large book that she had hidden under the pie with a cloth; the book was empty, but not for long. She quickly picked up everything and packed them away and the moment she was done she raced upstairs to the attic with her empty book and slowly walked towards the Book of Shadows. She put her empty book down at the potion brewing alter and dared to touch the Halliwell book and when she laid her hands on it without it trying to leave her she opened it and it did nothing to escape her touch, her spell had worked. She went back to the table and took her book holding it in front of the open Book of Shadows, casting one more spell that would complete the second step of her plan.

"What's mine is yours, what's your is mine, may these pages cross the line. I offer up these books to share, switch the contents through the air." The pages of both books began to flip rapidly of their own accord, words, pictures and symbols pulled away from the Halliwell Book of Shadows and filled Circe's empty Book of Shadows. And in less than two minutes the spell was complete; generations of Halliwell magic belonged to Circe.

"Now you can't keep my son away from me Paige Matthews; and to show how fickle I can be, I'm going to use the one's you love as collateral...let's start with your sisters." She began to walk away and as a parting statement, she aimed for the Book of Shadows and blew it up.


	5. Chapter 5 The Crescendo

"Sorry Phoebe, I need the bathroom, could you wait for me please?" Doctor Collin asked; they were standing in his office talking about the work that was done in the hospital and Phoebe was liking him more and more by the second and her power of empathy told her that he was feeling the same way about her.

"Sure I'll just wait here for you."

"Thanks, you can go ahead and read the file I just took out; I want you to see the pictures of the kids." She picked up a beige document file and showed it to him; he nodded with a smile and left the room. When he stepped into the bathroom he waved his hand and the door closed and locked itself; he walked to the counter and plugged the hand basin pouring a silvery substance into it. He dug in his pocket and finally pulled out a pouch filled with herbs; he took a pinch of these herbs and threw them into the reflective fluid. On contact the silver erupted in flames, the bathroom lights began to flicker and then they went out.

"By the powers of wind and tide, I send these words both far and wide. To converse with my mother dear, let me see her bright and clear." The fire died out and turned into white smoke that passed through the air and surrounded the bathroom mirror. The surface of the mirror began to shift, pushing and dipping from its frame and it finally settled; his reflection was replaced with Piper's.

"Hello mother, I see you've taken a different form." He said in a bitter tone of voice.

"I'm good thank you, how are you doing?" Circe replied dryly to her son and sighed as she summed him up.

"You've lost weight, too much weight soon you'll be nothing but a stick in comparison to your handsome father. And regarding this form, I won't be keeping it for long; not until I get Seth back and you're going to bring me closer to my goal once you've done the deed." She looked sternly at him and he returned the look.

"The witch you wanted is here, but she didn't come alone; her sister came with her and I suspect that she's also trying to find more information on Seth."

"Where is she now, the sister that is."

"She's in my office, I destroyed all of Seth's medical history from the archives and the system, including anything that could be connected or traced back to him. All I want to know is how to get rid of the spare witch."

"You don't, believe it or not Paige is no longer your target, her sister Phoebe Halliwell is the one I want. Well not entirely, what I really want is her soul and her death as a distraction for the next step in my plan."

"Why her, why not Paige if Phoebe's only another insignificant sister? He said as a throw away comment.

"To get passed Paige I'll need to weaken her powers and defences. What is better than making her wary of magic, what is better than crushing her soul."

"You are going to target all of the ones she loves most; and I must deal with Phoebe?"

"I want you to kill Phoebe and collect her soul; I will trade her soul for my son, Seth."

"You won't forgive them so easily, what do you intend to do after Seth returns home?"

"The question is what haven't I done, I have stolen their Book of Shadows and the form I have taken is the eldest sister's. I have her memories and her powers and I will use all of these to trick the elder that they call Leo."

"You've been busy indeed, how do you want me to collect Phoebe's soul without her sisters discovering what happened; and how do you expect me to kill Phoebe without leaving any evidence that could lead back to me?"

"I'll take care of all the technicalities; you just collect her soul using these…" Her arms and hands extended from the mirror holding out a silver athame and a silver vial covered with strange markings.

"Stab her with this athame; it is cursed to kill those that are cut by it, even if they are just scratched. This vial collects and conceals souls that are exposed to it, by cutting her with this athame you will leave her magical soul unprotected and that is when you take what is needed. I will cast a spell that will make you irresistible to her and when her guard is down you strike swiftly and quietly. Do not fail me as so many others have." He took the atheme and vial, observing how the light travelled along the blade.

"I will not fail you mother, that I can promise you."

Seth woke up and saw Circe lying next to him unconscious, except this wasn't Circe it was the real Piper trapped in Circe's form. Seth screamed and orbed away from her, he was in Paige's room and closed the door behind him too scared to know what to do next. He was prepared to orb to Paige, but he didn't know where she was and he hadn't orbed anywhere outside of the manor before, so he hid behind Paige's bed and closed his eyes seeking out her mind.

Paige was frowning as she sifted through the tenth file she thought would contain Seth's medical history or some form of communication details, but there was nothing. It was as if Seth didn't exist at all, according to the hospital records and archives there was another Seth who died from old age, in other words Seth was a John Doe. Someone tugged at her arm, she looked down and it was Seth, except he was taller and older maybe by three years, he was already higher than her waist.

"Seth, are you okay; you look worried and a little bigger." She said commenting on his huge growth spurt, but he didn't notice as he was struggling to find the right words.

"You have to go home quickly, the evil lady is in the house and I was lying on the ground next to her, please come now!" Seth disappeared and the dream was over with a snap, Paige opened her eyes and gasped for air. She fell asleep on the desk where she was looking through the hospital papers. Seth was in trouble at the manor; Circe had somehow managed to get into the house and was probably looking for him at that very moment. Paige didn't have time to find Phoebe and explain why she was leaving, but Seth needed her help so she ran to the women's bathroom and when she saw no one she orbed back to the manor.

Piper sat up and opened her eyes, she was lying on the ground and someone helped her back on to her feet. She was still a little fuzzy after she had eaten Greg's concoction and when she turned around to thank one of her sisters she saw a reflection of herself and before she could react, the other Piper blew something in her face and it felt like she was dosed with cold, salty sea water. The other Piper was saying something but the real Piper couldn't tell what it was, she was being bombarded with all kinds of feelings and her head felt like it was about to explode from the head ache she was suffering from. The other Piper disappeared and a female demon shimmered into the room running towards her with a nasty snarl, Piper acted on instinct and tried to blow up the demon, but it shimmered away and then it reappeared behind her kicking her in the back. Piper's sight was shot and her aiming was off all the time, by the third attempt the demon had really beaten her up; but by the grace of good fortune when the demon shimmered in front of her one last time she stepped aside and punched the demon with all of her strength, it tumbled to the ground and just as Piper was about to blow the demon up someone jumped in front of the demon, shouting out Paige's name. The impact hit that person and the demon went down on their knees to shaking the person that had gotten in Piper's way, her full sight was restored and the demon was gone, replaced by Paige and the person on the ground was Seth, except he seemed older as if he had gone from seven years old to ten or eleven. Seth began to glow and then he dispersed into little lights that flew into the air and faded away; Paige turned her gaze towards Piper with tears in her eyes.

"Are you such a monster that you would kill your own son?" She said with all the venom and hate in her being, she despised the woman in front her.

"I didn't know that he was going to jump, I didn't mean to do it and I didn't even see him, it happened so fast that I didn't expect…"Piper's words fell on deaf ears, Paige's face was hidden in her hands and her body heaving as she cried.

Circe was looking down at Phoebe through the white smoke over the silver pond.

"From twelve, count twenty four; that's how long the spell is for. To attract young Phoebe's heart, enchant my son I thee impart." Her spell gathered the white smoke which poured into the reflection of her son's office, Phoebe's back was towards the billowing white smoke behind her. She was completely oblivious to it moving towards her as she looked attentively at the Photos of Doctor Collin playing and interacting with the children in the hospital. More of the white smoke filled the men's bathroom and surrounded Doctor Collin, curling around his feet and then spinning around him as he radiated a red gold light. The smoke receded into the mirror and the bright light faded away into sparks, he looked exactly the same but he felt a strange boldness taking over him, this had to work. The white smoke hit Phoebe like a gust of wind and forced its way into her eyes and mouth until it filled her, she completely forgot about the smoke and could only feel a slight tingling in her body; when the doctor stepped into the office she knew what that feeling was. There was this overwhelming desire for him, unlike anything she had ever felt and even before he could speak she grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him into a kiss for the ages. Their lips finally parted and they still held tightly onto each other, she opened her eyes and her gaze fell on the reflection of a monitor behind Doctor Collin. He had an athame in his hand and he raised it high over her back poised to stab her; the spell broke and she kneed him in the groin grabbing his hand with the athame, he was barely cut by the blade and yet he fell to the ground. The silver athame shattered when it hit the floor and his body began to glow; the light receded into the pocket of his pants and then his body began to shrivel up like a dry prune before it turned into scintillating sand. His pocket continued to glow like a large firefly, Phoebe reached into it and took out a silver vial with strange markings on it, even though it was solid silver a light continued to shine brightly through its container. There was something else in his pocket and in the pocket of his jacket, she took out a black pouch that didn't make a sound when she shook it, and a flask filled with something like water when she shook it. She opened the pouch expecting to see something strange, but it was only full of herbs and when she opened the flask she saw the silvery water that barely moved as she swirled the contents around. She stood up and stepped over the shimmering sand that had once been a living person, she looked for something like a bowl to pour the silvery fluid into and all she could find was a cereal bowl, did doctors spend that much time in the hospital and when she looked down at the clothes full of sand she asked herself if it was only him. She poured the silver liquid into the bowl and threw in a pinch of the herbs, it erupted in flames and she jumped back from shock dropping the vial. The lid came off and the golden light escaped leaping into the flames, the fire died and the same white smoke that had attacked her began to waft in the air. The smoke inside of her tried to leave her body and join the cloud emanating from the bowl, but it dragged Phoebe with it in the process. Her form began to warp and shift awkwardly as it evaporated pouring into the bowl as well. Phoebe opened her eyes as she emerged from the depths of a silver pond gasping for air as if she had been under water for a long period of time. She looked around her and took in her surroundings, she was in huge cave full of statues and alters covered in scrolls, quills, dry bones, herbs, amulets and potion bottles. Obviously this was not a children's day care centre; she heard a sound that was somewhere between a growl and snoring but that meant very little when she heard an ear splitting screech, she ran towards a large stuffed animal and hid behind it. Piper came walked into the room through a hidden door in the wall across the pond, Phoebe turned towards the pond afraid that she had left foot prints behind when she had come out of the silver water, but the ground was dry and she noted that she herself was dry but this is the magical world, she thought to herself, what isn't out of the ordinary?

"They killed my son! They killed him, they killed him!" She screamed with tears in her eyes and spite in her voice, Phoebe could feel her grief and inner pain, but this wasn't Piper's real feelings because something was off about her. Piper disappeared in a flash of the same golden light that was in the vial and another woman took her place, it was Circe still wearing Piper's clothes. Someone killed Seth, but who could have done it if Piper was still in the manor with him? Circe went back to her pond and took a pinch of herbs out of a basin carved into a large rock and she threw the herbs into the pond; it erupted into the familiar flames that Phoebe had seen when she had thrown those herb into Doctor Collin's silver potion, Circe transformed into Piper again and cast a spell that extinguished the fire.

"By the powers of wind and tide, I send these words both far and wide. Be he far or be her near, let the elder perceive me clear." The smoke gathered around the pond and swirled around the Piper that stood before Phoebe, it completely engulfed and in a matter of second it parted revealing thin air where the false Piper stood.

"May I ask who are you now, or do you intend on hiding behind until she comes back?" The stuffed animal got up and turned around, she was inches away from a large tiger which had spoken directly to her.

"Don't worry I don't bite and that I swear upon." He said politely bowing before her, still a little shell shocked she responded.

"hi…just to clarify something, are you a real tiger that's been bewitched or someone that got on the wrong side of Circe and ended up being a tiger?"

"The second one; and to be more precise she turned me into a tiger because I didn't want to be in a relationship with her."

"Oh, so she does do that to guys that break her heart, do you really think you didn't have that one coming?" He roared at her and she decided to take a lighter approach, light.

"If I can turn you back into a human, will you promise to tell all you know about her?"

"If you can return me to my true form I will truly be indebted to you."

"No offense, but how old are you, because you don't sound like the average guy?"

"By now I'm eighty eight years old, but you have no need to worry, when I return to my true form I will still appear as the man I once was."

"Okay then I'll just improvise; I call upon the ancient powers, to unmask him now and in future hours. Show him well and thoroughly, reveal his true form for the world to see" Small spheres of white light surrounded him and in a brief flash of that light the tiger transformed into a real man, who was unfortunately naked.

Once Paige had recovered she came to realise that the Circe had manipulated them into fighting each other, in the hope of killing them. What they were unsure of was if she intended to have Seth killed in the process, they went up to the attic see if there was a spell in the Book of Shadows that could help them track her or capture; and find a potion strong enough to either vanquish her or cause some real damage, but when they opened the door all that was left of the book was a pile of papers that looked like they had been blown up. Circe had taken advantage of the unconscious Piper and the empty manor and as a final insult to injury she had destroyed the Book of Shadows that had been passed down to them from generations of Warren and Halliwell witches. When they bent low to pick up the pages they saw that every one of them was blank, old pieces of paper with nothing on them, the only proof that it was their book was the triquetra symbol that was on the front cover that represented the power of three. Paige held it tight and put it in her pocket.

"Where is Phoebe, is she still at the hospital?"

"I forgot about her with all that has just happened, I'll phone her and fill her in with all the details." Phoebe said.

"I will do it, you don't have to go through this again, call Leo and tell him we need his help."

"Leo!"

"Leo, come here quickly, Leo I need your help!" Piper called out to him from behind P3, he orbed in front of her and just as he was about to ask her what was wrong she stopped him and gave him a kiss.

"Circe kidnapped Seth and Paige; I tried to stop her but she caught me off guard. She won't hurt Seth but I don't know about Paige, find them quickly!"

"I can't sense Paige, Circe must have them well cloaked I'll find Phoebe and we'll think of something. Don't worry I promise we'll find them." He began to orb and Piper acted quickly, she froze the orbs just as they were about to disappear.

"Orbs of this whitelighter rise, their course unseen across the skies. I scatter them both far and wide. To never find the place I hide." The orbs dispersed flying in different directions; she smiled and walked away into the shadows as white smoke swirled around her.

Circe decided to check up on her son Ardeas and see if he had collected Phoebe's soul yet, when she walked into his office all she saw was her son's clothes filled with sparkling sand on the floor, the roof was covered with the familiar magical white smoke that came pouring from a bowl, she fell to her knees and held onto the sand, crying at the realisation that she had lost another son. The silver knife was shattered on the floor and the vial that had rolled away still contained a faint spark of gold that could only have come from Ardeas's soul, when she looked back at the examining table she saw his flask and pouch were opened; someone killed him, collected and used his soul as well as the silver waters she had given to him from her pond. Phoebe was nowhere to be seen; Circe folded his clothes and tucked them underneath her arm as she stood up and looked into the reflection of the silver waters. She saw Phoebe sitting on the floor of her cave talking to one of her pets, it wasn't long before Phoebe broke the curse that Circe had put upon the man who refused to share her love. Circe's temper rose to a crescendo and she screamed hitting the bowl aside, it was the first out of many times that the liquid silver actually moved like real water.

Circe's cave shook violently and the waters of the pond leapt high into the splashing a swirling threatening to overflow. Phoebe and Aran, the man she had saved from his perpetual existence as an animal, had no idea that the weather and the ocean beyond the walls of the cave had become a tempest. A blizzard of white smoke and frost flew in their direction throwing them and everything else across the cave.

"Two sons, both of mine were killed today; you and your sisters have killed them!" Circe said growing in size, nearly ten times her original height, all of Pipers features disappeared as Circe turned into a monstrous and disproportionate woman, her hair came to life whipping everywhere and when she bared her teeth they turned into long, razor sharp tusks.

"It is time that you learn the might of my wrath!"

"Leo isn't answering my call and I tried orbing to him, but it's like he's all over the place I don't know where he is." She looked out the window and saw a mammoth blizzard pass on by.

"I can't get through to Phoebe, every time I try there's this white snow noise."

"Piper, you really need to see this, because you're not going to believe it."

They checked the news, on every channel there was a report on mammoth waves, terrible storms, tornados and earthquakes.

"It's Circe it has to be, she knows that Seth is dead and she's doing this to get revenge." Paige said, Piper arms were crossed as she absorbed all of the images on the TV screen.

"Well can you blame her, if anything had to happen to Wyatt I'd probably do the same thing." Piper said more to herself than Paige, Paige held her face in her hands pulled back her hair.

"What is this, what is the point of having powers when there is nothing that we can do. What is the point of being a Charmed One if I can't even protect one innocent; and this is all my fault."

"Don't say that, you did everything you could and sometimes that's all we can do. We owe it to Seth to make right all that has gone wrong."

"No, I don't want to, I'm sick and tired of doing this; I hate being a witch. I never wanted this, I never wanted to sacrifice myself to all of this. I had a perfectly normal life and I was happy with it."

"Help!" The sound seemed to reverberate around the room and then it faded.

"Phoebe is here, Phoebe is in Circe's lair! Escape the wind and travel across the sky, there you will find us!" And the voice was gone replaced by the silence filled with the howling of the wind.

"I know you're angry and I get that you have your doubts about magic, but this is beyond us now. Phoebe, our sister is in danger and I need your help, magic got us in trouble…?"

"…And magic is going to get us out of it, so all we have to do is escape the wind and travel across the sky."

"I'd say you could orb us to her, but if she's with Circe she'll probably be cloaked by magic."

"She'd be cloaked against witches and whitelighters; not leprechauns."

"I don't think they'll do it, they're not usually the type to run towards danger."

"But that doesn't mean we can't ride on the rainbow over the stormy sky, staff." She called to Shamus the leprechaun's staff that was given to her after he died.

"Go nary and bo talley."

"Phoebe ducked as a lock of giant animated hair flew towards and she rolled out of the way when Circe's hand came raining down to crush her, she had been diving and dodging Circe's attacks and finally made it out of the cave. But the cave was nothing but a little pocket in a marble temple that was huge and went on forever, if this carried on for too Phoebe would collapse from exhaustion. A rainbow unexpectantly appeared in front of her.

"Hey it worked, okay Phoebs we need to leave now!" Piper said grabbing Phoebe, a gigantic lock of hair grabbed the two but Paige orbed out of the way by reflex.

"We have whitelighter here as well; I always say the more the merrier; come here you!" Circe snarled as she attempted to grab Paige; taking advantage of the distraction, Piper blew up the stands of hair that held onto her and Phoebe. Piper had enough time to realise that without Paige, this was a really bad idea, Phoebe grabbed her hand and when they were seconds away from hitting the ground they stopped in mid-air. Phoebe's power of levitation had saved them by six feet. Paige turned around quickly to see how far Circe was from her and orbed in a split second to her sisters.

"Here's the spell and read it quickly!" Paige took a piece of paper out of her pocket and held it out for the others to read with her.

"Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies. Undo her powers and set them free, cast them out of the sorceress Circe." Circe whipped around and saw the sisters, she ran towards them slowly shrinking by the second her hair began to lose its movement and by the time she reached them she looked at her hands and arms and felt her face, she began to glow. But the light around her was already beginning to fade away and so did she.

"Freeze her Piper." Phoebe said, Piper froze the process of Circe's death and looked at Phoebe with a questioning frown. Three whitelighters orbed in front of them, two of them were elders and the third one was Leo smiling broadly.

"Well it seems as if the balance of time and nature is restored and on the behalf of all the elders we thank you." The female elder said with a slight smile on her face, she turned and looked at Circe that was frozen next to her.

"And regarding Circe, we will take care of the problem from here on." She held her hand over Circe, but before she could do whatever she was going to do Phoebe spoke up.

"I don't think that she should be vanquished or be punished." Everyone turned and looked at her.

"In the brief time I spent with her, I saw and felt her grief. To her we were just something that separated her from her son; all she wanted in the first place was to bring him back here. That cave was only her power base; the place that we are standing in right now was meant for Seth. And yes she reverted to abusing magic and using demons to bring Seth here, but with a reputation like hers who but demons would help her? In every attempt she made to get Seth no one got killed, well I almost got killed…and when Seth died I could feel her pain, her grief and anger. The only pain you can feel when someone you love has been killed and knowing that there was nothing you could have done to save them. And then her other son was killed adding onto what she was already suffering from; and we," She was regarding her sisters as well, "were the ones who killed her sons, one was just a little boy who was nothing but an innocent, doesn't it make sense that she hated us and wanted us to die because of what we had done. Yes she was wrong, but hasn't her isolation from her own son been enough?" There was a moment of silence as everyone as everyone let her words sink in.

"So what do you propose we do?" The older male elder asked.

"I propose isolation from magic, we have already stripped her of her powers, why not strip her of the memories that involve magic as well and rewrite her history.

"That would be asking a lot from us, to give her something that she might not deserve."

"Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance, if no one had that chance there would be more evil in life than there is good." The elders thought about it carefully and the female elder responded.

"We will keep this inconsideration as we decide our next course of action." She said and waved her hand at the petrified naked man that was hiding behind a pillar, he was covered with a cloak and disappeared in swirling spheres of light, the male elder tried not smile as they orbed away. Leo stayed behind and walked up to Piper

"It's too bad that it wasn't the real you that I kissed, because she wasn't half bad?"

"What kiss, did she kiss you!?" Piper asked him, Leo just gave her a cheeky smile and orbed away.

"Staff…Well that was interesting, as I like to say, magic got us into trouble and magic got us out of it." Paige orbed the staff as she and Piper wrapped their arms around Phoebe.

"Hand me that stick, go nary an bo talley." Piper said with a dry smile; no one notice that the triquetra symbol that Paige had brought with her had fallen out of her pocket and was lying discarded on the floor. It began to glow and shake and without anything touching it, the symbol glided across the ground and back into the cave. A book that had been tossed on the ground when Circe had burst into the room, opened up and the triquetra moved quickly towards it. The very second that the corner of the page touched the corner of the triquetra an explosion rippled across the temple and with a resounding boom the entire island was blown to kingdom come.

When the three sisters returned home they saw that everything was in place and that included the Book of Shadows, restored to what its true form.

Eighteen months later…

Paige reached for her cup of coffee at the same time as a tall, handsome and exotic man; she smiled at him and wanted to say some kind of witty remark on how they had reached for the cups at the same time and how they would introduce themselves, there were very few times that Paige made the first move, but all he did was smile and walk off with his cup of coffee. Paige watched him as he sat next to his pregnant wife and gave her the cup of coffee he had just bought for her. He picked up a small boy which Paige could only assume was his son. But giving a pregnant woman caffeine wasn't a good idea, she opened the lid of her cup to look at its contents, it was a cup of tea. They must have picked up the wrong cups, so she called out to the family at the table before his wife took a sip of the coffee.

"Excuse me, I think you have my coffee." She said walking towards them, the wife opened the lid of the cup and saw the coffee, she handed it to Paige and Paige gave her the tea. They closed the lids of their drinks and Paige nodded with a smile as a small good bye.

"Sorry, have we met before?" The woman asked Paige, Paige had a good look at the pregnant red head and nearly dropped her coffee. She was standing in front of Circe, but the woman that had once been a malevolent sorceress was a radiantly smiling mortal with straight, shoulder length orange hair and blue eyes, oblivious to the fact that she was sitting at least two feet away with one of the witches that robbed her of her powers. Paige responded quickly, not knowing if her choice of words were the best.

"I'm sorry I think you must have me confused with someone else." She said trying to avert her gaze, but Circe's eyes opened wide from the realisation and Paige prepared herself for the worst.

"You're Paige Matthews, Phoebe Halliwell's younger sister I just have to say that I am her biggest fan. I read 'Ask Phoebe' every time John brings the paper home." Circe's new husband gave Paige an exasperated smile and his son tried to play with his face.

"We've been in LA for only three years and she's already an avid reader." Circe gave him an affectionate swat.

"My name is Ciara Kendrick and this is obviously my husband John; and our three year old Calvin."

"And another one is on the way." John said with a broad smile, nearly bursting with pride.

"And the baby is going to be another one of the Kendrick sons; isn't he Calvin." He said to his son as he took his glasses off his shirt and put them in the case where his son couldn't get a hold of them, Ciara rolled her eyes.

"Or the baby could be a girl; and if she is a girl I'm naming her."

"And when the boy is born I'll name him after his grandfather Simon." John said in a matter of fact tone

"In any case, it was nice meeting you Paige, please ask your sister whether I should put up with this man and his insight of the future or if I should ask the doctor to ruin the surprise when I go for my sonar gram."

"Will do, you have a nice day." Paige walked away and thought that maybe her sister's didn't need to know that Circe was back, because the mortal Ciara had finally gotten what she really deserved.


End file.
